(1) Field of Invention
This invention relates to the field of building construction, processes employed therein, and the resulting products.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
There have been many patents issued in areas of prefabrication of parts and erection of the parts into a complete building at a location separate from the location where the parts are fabricated. However, there are relatively few patents that cover buildings erected at the site of their permanent location by employing the technique of utilizing a central member from which all wall and roof sections are raised into place. This is particularly true where the central member remains a functional element of the building.
The patents listed below seem pertinent to this art:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,295,265 to Hida discloses a prefabricated building that is manually assembled from small sections and panels that can be erected and installed without the use of an erection tool of any kind. Hida has a center member of the same height as the side panels and which member acts as a hub from which spoke-like beams radiate outward to engage and secure individual small side panels. Hida does not employ large, heavy side and roof panels, so he does not need the centerpole lifting crane as shown by the Applicant.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,142 to Worthington discloses a plurality of prefabricated modular units that are assembled to join a central room. His construction likewise does not employ a centrally located crane or lifting unit as required by the Applicant.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,546,831 to Romo does employ a centrally located boom to lift his roof structure each time a series of wall panels are installed. When his building is completed, the central boom, which is attached to an erection vehicle, is telescoped to a smaller size and folded about the rear axle of the erection vehicle and removed from the building. Applicant's central erection crane or gin pole is attached to and operated from a centrally located chimney that remains as a permanent part of the finished building in one embodiment.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,671 to Curci discloses a pre-built housing structure supported above the ground in a cradle-like support. This unit does not utilize the central erection means necessary in the Applicant's structure and method.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,631 to Nowell utilizes a pair of overhanging support means to assist in removing one structure telescoped within another.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,093 to Finsterwalder utilizes a central column of concrete in the shape of a silo to support ceilings and room sections that surround the center silo when this multistory building is completed to provide a suspended building of a generally egg shape.
The Applicant's initially intended single family dwelling differs markedly from the preceding prior art examples of building constructions both in the total resultant building and in its complete method of construction. None of the prior art disclosures accomplish the Applicant's purpose in the manner or with the structure of the present invention as it directly relates to the construction field.